SPOTLIGHT ON A FESTIVAL SHEEPDOG HANDLER Tammy Yost-Wildin
Tammy Yost-Wildin represents the fifth-generation of an agricultural family who settled in Billings in the late 1800s. She grew up on a ranch in Montana and is still there running the Heart T Ranch horse training facility she founded with her husband Daniel.
A professional horse trainer for 32 years, Tammy is not new to the idea of competition but is new to sheepdog competition. Tammy grew up on a ranch with 100 head of sheep where they didn’t have sheepdogs, just very functional ranch dogs used mostly for the family’s cattle. The dogs she grew up with and later used as turn back dogs for her cutting horses were tough dogs. “My impression of border collies was that they were wimpy dogs,” she said. “Now I know I was not around good border collies!” she adds.
In 2016, her friend Donna Cole got her involved in working sheep by inviting her to clinics. About that same time, the Wyoming Stock Dog Association wanted to have a clinic in an indoor facility in Montana. Tammy donated the use of her facility for a spot in the clinic run by Joni Tietjen – a trainer whose background in horses had a style that resonated with Tammy.
A few weeks later, Joni hosted a clinic which Tammy attended. “Working with Joni was a turning point for me and I was hooked,” she says. But, both agreed that she needed a new dog to work as Mowgli, the four-year-old border collie she had been working with, wasn’t best suited for her to move forward. “I love him and he isn’t going anywhere,” Tammy said. “But, I didn’t want to get a serious dog until I had time to commit to it.”
In Fall 2017, she was introduced to a litter of pups in Canada where five-month-old Merle fell in love with Tammy and she took him home. He was a decently bred dog but turned out to be very difficult to train as he was “quirky” and very fast. All the same, Tammy dove into the process of
learning the sport of sheepdog and cattle dog trialing under Joni’s coaching. It turns out, Merle was better at cattle than sheep and over the years, she had some success in arena trials with Merle and learned a lot from him.
In 2020, when Covid-19 hit and there were no sanctioned trials, they did some open ranch field trials for fun. “I realized that sheep were not going to be Merle’s thing as he was too strong on sheep,” said Tammy. (Ultimately, Merle went back to his original ranch to work cattle where he is living happily today.)
It was June of 2020 when Tammy worked a trial at Joni’s ranch and everything changed. Joni told Tammy that if she really wanted to learn to handle an Open dog, Ben would be a great match and teacher. “I said yes, of course…there was not even a question I wanted to partner with that amazing dog!” she says. Joni sold Ben to Tammy who had loved him ever since she had laid eyes on him as a two-year-old – before he won the National Nursery Championship twice with Joni. (The only dog in history to do so.) “It was amazing as to what I had missed with the other dogs, how a dog should really feel on sheep and it has been nothing but a complete joy training with Joni, learning from Ben and going to the places he has taken me,” Tammy shared.
By early 2021, Tammy and Ben attended their first sanctioned field trial in an open ranch where they won on the first day and took second place on day two. In March, they challenged themselves in an open trial in Texas where they placed fifth against some very tough handlers. “I felt like we belonged in the Open but I still had so much to learn,” she shared. Other handlers helped her, gave advice and have been gracious in helping her find her footing. “Everyone helps everyone and it is a very fun group of people,” says Tammy. “I have felt embraced being a new handler in the sport, especially skipping over being a novice and diving into Open competition. I wasn’t intimated, but had holes in my knowledge. Ben made up for that in a lot of ways, but you have to put yourself out there, show and make mistakes,” said Tammy.
The Strang Ranch Trial in Colorado was a turning point. Tammy and Ben were one of the top thirteen teams qualifying for, and ultimately winning, the double lift final with the highest scoring shed. This qualified them for the well-known Soldier Hollow Trial held outside Salt Lake City, Utah. “This is an intimidating trial as it is a very difficult outrun up the side of the mountain and the best handlers in North America are competing,” said Tammy. They narrowly missed the final as Ben overheated on the first day, although he had a good run the second day. They took these lessons, went to the popular Meeker Classic Sheepdog Trials and made the semi-final. (Although they were unable to qualify for the final.)
“She has been trialing for just a few years which is incredible by dog trial standards. Most people competing and winning at trials like Trailing of the Sheep Festival have been at it for 20 years,” shares Trailing of the Sheep Festival’s Technical Trials Coordinator Kelly Ware.
In October of 2021, Tammy and Ben made their first appearance at the Trailing of the Sheep Festival’s National Qualifying Sheepdog Trials where they placed second in the double lift final. “I went for the challenge (of the Festival) because I heard how tough the sheep are. They are big range sheep – like Soldier Hollow and Meeker…the big trials in North America all use big range sheep. And, if you aren’t getting proficient on those sheep, you are not going to win,” said Tammy.
She heard our Festival was fun and says that is why she is doing this. “I love the culture of the sheep industry and it sounded like a fun time…it did not disappoint! I had a blast and loved how involved the spectators were. Ben is friendly and social and people enjoy petting him. I even met a couple who had traveled a long way to be here…they came to the Festival on vacation and stayed until Sunday to watch me run. I definitely enjoyed it and will be going back,” shared Tammy.
Although new to the circuit, Tammy has shown animals for a living so she doesn’t struggle with show nerves. But, she thinks she could have come up the ladder more quickly if she would have started with a dog like Ben. “Green on green makes black and blue…one of you needs to know the gig,” she says. Adding, “Don’t buy the cute puppy…buy a dog that has been there and done that to get started.”
Tammy wants the sport to continue to grow. She believes more people are going to need to get involved and in order to do that, there needs to be more opportunities for novice handlers to get started with trained dogs. “We need to partner with land owners for open space so we have places to have these trials and at the bigger trials, with large spectatorship, people love the dogs and we can educate people that these are humane working dogs…the dogs are bred for it and live for it and it is good for the sheep. The welfare of the livestock is of paramount importance and the only way to change hearts and minds is to get people to see it,” she concluded.
If you are interested in learning more about becoming a sheepdog handler, Tammy recommends United States Border Collie Handlers Association and The Working Sheepdog Website